


Left Behind

by Fanficcrazy93



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Angst, Child Neglect, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Foster Care, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Sibling Bonding, Violence, abusive foster parents
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-08-03
Packaged: 2019-12-26 21:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18290159
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fanficcrazy93/pseuds/Fanficcrazy93
Summary: 'I was just uh... I was really relieved. They had an easier time.'Michael wasn't taken in like Isobel and Max were, I wanted to show how his life was probably like and how he felt about the situation. Why didn't the Evans adopt him as well? Why separate the siblings? How did this affect the way Michael grew up?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This should be considered AU. I plan on changing some things up and possibly adding onto what is currently happening in the show. This story will basically be taken from the time that Michael was in his foster homes to his current age in the show at the moment. I hope you enjoy it!

Michael sat in his room staring at the door. He was huddled up on his bed with his back against the headboard, legs pulled up to his chest and arms wrapped firmly around them. 

His eyes never left the door. He was exhausted and every once and awhile his eyes would slide shut but he quickly snapped them open again. He wanted to be prepared for when his foster dad came into his room. 

Michael knew that it was inevitable, and even if he did nothing wrong, his foster dad would still hurt him. But today he got into a fight with a couple of kids at school if you could even call it that. They were picking on a kid who didn't seem to be able to properly defend himself. The one thing that Michael couldn't stand was a bully. Long story short he won the fight but ended up getting detention. Luckily he wasn't suspended, the kid who was getting bullied vouched for him, but they still called his "parents" and now he was screwed. 

The fear had been festering inside of him all day. His foster dad didn't get home till late and no matter how exhausted the man talked about being he always found time to teach him his "lessons". 

The door slammed open bringing Michael from his thoughts. Todd barged into the room a thick belt wrapped firmly in his hand. 

"I heard you were causing trouble again." Todd stepped further into the room and slammed the door shut. 

"I was just helping a kid out, those other two kids came after me. I was only defending myself." Michael tried to explain to him. 

"That seems to be the only line you know. No matter how many times I try and beat it out of you." The man shook his head. 

"That's cause there's nothing for you to beat out of me, there's nothing wrong with me," Michael told him. His voice hard but still shaking with fear. 

"We'll see about that," Todd responded as he gestured for Michael to turn around and remove his shirt. 

Michael knew better than to disobey, it never went well for him. If he just took the punishment it was a lot smoother, or at least slightly less painful. 

The sharp crack of the belt against his back was deafening. The pain was much worse, and Michel screamed into the pillow, his hands balled up in tight fists. No matter how many times this happened he never got used to it. This type of thing had been going on for nine years now, and while it may have become the norm, it was definitely not something he could ever get used to. Besides, whenever he was moved to a different home they just switched up the method. Sometimes it'd be fists, other times belts, once there was even this religions family that thought they could exorcize the demons out of him, he'd accidentally used his powers. They were the worst, they tried a crapload of things they thought would work, from fire, to starving him, they even tried drowning him. 

After that experience, he realized that some homes were far worse than others. He would take a belt any day if only to avoid ever having to go back to a home like that one again. 

By the end of the beating, Michael could barely move. He pushed away from the pillow he'd put over his mouth to block the sounds of his pain, but other than that he stayed still. 

"I hope you've learned your lesson," Todd said as he patted Michael's back. 

Michael gritted his teeth at the pain. "Yes sir, it won't happen again sir." This was all routine for him. 

"Yea, I'm sure it won't." Todd wrapped up his belt and left the room slamming the door shut on his way out. 

Michael let out a sigh of relief. He wished that his door had a lock to it, but at least he no longer had to worry about that tonight. Todd wouldn't be back till at least tomorrow night depending on his mood. 

Michael slowly and painfully moved from the bed. He needed to see what state his back was in. 

The mirror in his bathroom showed him that although only a few actually broke the skin his back was going to be black and blue and extremely painful tomorrow. He hopped in the shower wanting to at least keep the few open wounds clean. 

When he was done he grabbed a bottle of nail polish remover from underneath the counter and downed half of it. It may not heal him, but it would take the edge off and that's what he needed right now.

Not for the first time, he thanked whoever was out there in the universe that Isobel and Max didn't have to go through what he was going through. They had a great home with a great family that loved them and protected them. It made him think though, what was so wrong with him that he was left behind? Did he really deserve everything that had been done to him? He tried not to think too much about the reasons, he didn't want to resent his siblings for having a better life than him, it wasn't their fault. 

When they were first split apart it took them ages before they could find each other again. They started meeting up in the Evans backyard, Isobel and Max's foster home. He would sneak in after they put up the tent and they'd stay there all night. Some nights he'd show up bruised and Max would heal the worst of it and other times he'd hide his pain from them. He didn't need to add guilt every time he came around them. 

After a while, it just became too hard for him to meet with them. He would never admit it to anyone least of all Isobel and Max, but it hurt. It hurt to see how good their life was and how miserable his own was. He'd make excuses for not showing up or sometimes he'd just not say anything at all. After a while, they stopped the meetings period. 

Michael wasn't blind, he could see that there was a connection between Max and Isobel that he didn't seem to share. Their bound was tighter, stronger and maybe it was from the fact that he wasn't around them. They'd been together since the moment they came out of their pods while he, on the other hand, got shipped off to foster home after foster home. He was alone, he handled everything alone, he had to. He learned to control his powers by himself and that was a difficult thing to do with what he went through. He was jealous of his sibling's life's, and he found it better to separate himself from them than to hate them for something that was out of their control. 

They'd talk in school and occasionally go out when they got a little older, but he never went to their home again and he would never invite them to his. He never talked about his own home life and he just listened and smiled as they talked about theirs. He'd always make himself scarce when the Evans would come around because them, them he resented. They could have saved him from the pain he was going through, but they chose not to. While he was immensely grateful that they took in his siblings, he was hurt that clearly, he wasn't good enough for them to have taken him too. So what if he was found scribbling weird things on the wall when they saw him, it wouldn't have hurt if they would have at least attempted to help him. 

Honestly, he wasn't even sure anyone knew they were siblings. Max and Isobel yes, him, on the other hand, his life was completely separate from theirs. He didn't broadcast it and he didn't think that his brother and sister did either. It was probably better that way anyway, it was more than likely what the Evans wanted. All ties connecting them broken. He knew that Max and Isobel sensed his feelings towards their parents but they didn't say anything, because they knew his feelings were justified. Although he didn't talk about his abuse anymore he could still see how Max's face would tighten up at a new bruise, or a limp. 

Tonight would just be another one that he'd have to hide. It was exhausting honestly, keeping all of this to himself. He couldn't go to a doctor if he got hurt too badly. Not just because he had no money, but mainly because of the whole alien thing. One blood test or bone scan or whatever and he'd find himself in way more trouble, trouble that he would inevitably bring onto his brother and sister when they realized the connection. So he suffered in silence and if it was something that was bad enough that he couldn't handle on his own he'd go to Max. They wouldn't talk about what happened, Max would just heal him with that same angry face because no matter what he said there was nothing he could do to help him. 

Tomorrow he'd hide it. It wasn't that bad, or at least not bad enough to worry his siblings about. Max was more in the know than Isobel, and he wanted to keep it that way as well. She may care more for Max on instinct, but that didn't mean she worried any less about him. Honestly, he only had to worry about this for a couple more years. They were juniors now and he only had two more years before he could leave this terrible city. He was actually working at a mechanic shop and there was a beat-up truck that the owner said if he could get it started he could keep. If he could finish it up by next year, then he could just stay in there for his senior year. 

Micheal got back into bed making sure to avoid contact with his back. He let the thoughts of only having to suffer for one more year drift him off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long for the next chapter I've just been really busy. Here's the second chapter, enjoy!

Gym was not a class he was looking forward to. He'd forgotten about the class when he'd made his decision to keep this from his siblings. Max's powers would have come in handy right about now. Michael jogged around the track grimacing in pain. 

This was his last class of the day and the gym teacher had him running extra laps on the track after his altercation with those bullies the day before. Clearly him getting detention wasn't enough punishment for him. 

He looked to the side at the grinning idiots on the side of the track. Of course the guys he fought would be on the track team. Stupid coach and his stupid favouritism. Michael rolled his eyes as he forced himself to ignore their jabs. 

This was currently his fifth time around the track. He may be from another planet but he still got tired like everyone else and if he was forced to run around this track any longer he was going to drop. His legs were killing him, his sides were aching, and his back was screaming bloody murder.

"Michael! Let's wrap it up, you all have a detention to get to." The coach called out. 

Michael breathed a sigh of relief, and simply walked off without a single word to the coach. He ignored the comments from the guys on the side and walked into the locker room. 

The shower washed away all the grime and sweat and left him feeling refreshed. Too bad it didn't wash away his stress, or his pain. He could go for a bottle of nail polish remover right about now. 

Michael grunted as he dressed, the action pulling against his battered back. He was beginging to wish that he'd told Max to heal his back after all. 

Two gruiling hours later and Michael was strolling out of the classroom that held him hostage for his detention. 

"Hey!" 

What now? Michael turned around at the shout. His eyes widened in surprise at the person in front of him. He gave the kid a questioning look.

The boy rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, I just wanted to thank you for the other day." 

"No problem." Michael continued to look at the boy. 

"By the way, my names-" the boy was cut off. 

"Alex, yea I know." Michael gave him a smirk. 

Alex looked at Michael with surprise. 

"We have practically every class together." Michael shrugged. 

"Uh, yea I know that. I just didn't think you knew that. This is probably the longest conversation we've ever had." Alex stated. He'd noticed Michael the moment he first saw him. He was most certainly Alex's type, even if Alex no doubt wasn't Michael's. 

"Yea well," Michael shrugged once again. 

Alex gave him a look. "Well, I just wanted to thank you. It wasn't fair that you got detention for that though. You didn't start the fight. I just wish I could have done more to get you out of that."

"It's fine I can handle detention, and those assholes got what they deserved." Michael told him. "I don't like bullies."

"Yea they did. I gotta go before my dad starts actively searching for me. Thanks again though." Alex gave Michael a smile and walked away. 

Michael nodded his head at Alex as they both left. Michael couldn't stop the thoughts running through his head about the boy though. He knew Alex was gay, everyone knew Alex was gay. That was something he couldn't hide, not really. Plus all that eyeliner wasn't helping. 

He on the other hand came across as straight, although he liked both sexes. He liked who he liked, and right now there was a little flutter happening in the pit of his stomach at the very thought of Alex. It was something he never experienced before. 

He'd been with girls before as well as boys, but he'd never had this feeling before. Michael shook his head and ignored the growing feeling as he walked home.  
...

"Where the hell have you been?"

Michael sighed. "Detention, I told you that already."

Todd grunted in answer. 

Michael rolled his eyes and made his way to his room, if you could call that small closet space a room. 

"Hey. Get me a beer."

Michael gritted his teeth in annoyance. God forbid he got his lazy ass up from the chair and got it himself. 

"Today would be nice." Todd said sarcastically. 

Michael held his tongue and walked into the kitchen grabbing a beer from the fridge. 

Todd yanked the beer out of Michael's hand. "Took you long enough."

"How about next time you get the beer yourself. You got two working legs."Honestly the words were out of his mouth before he could even comprehend what he was saying. 

The bottle smacked him right across the head sending him straight to the floor. A blindingly bright light filled his vision and all he could feel was pain. 

Michael moaned as he rolled around holding onto his aching head. He could feel something sticky and he smelled the distinct scent of copper in the air. 

How about you keep you’re mouth shut and just do as you’re told. I don’t have to keep you’re ass around. Todd got up off the couch and stepped right over Michael's body on his way to the kitchen to grab another beer not sparring Michael a second glance. 

Michael wanted to tell Todd to suck it, and that he was only keeping him here for the checks. They both knew it, except he was currently laying on the ground in agony from his first attempt at talking back to the man. It was probably best if he just kept his mouth shut. It was safer for him at least.

He could feel a decent sized gash on the side of his head and he was pretty sure if he got up too fast he’d end up back on the ground, hell if he took his time getting up off the floor he’d probably still end up on ground with how the room was currently spinning. He had to get up though because Todd wouldn’t avoid stepping on him a second time. 

He moaned and grunted, stumbling the whole way through it, but he made it all the way to his room. He hurriedly downed his last half bottle of acetone and gently lowered himself to his bed. The bottle barely took the edge off and he was currently seeing double whenever he opened his eyes. From past experiences he knew that it would take at the least an hour before he could get up. 

As soon as that hour was up he left out of his bedroom window. It was about a 10 minute drive turned 15 minutes with how careful he was being. It probably wasn’t the safest thing to do, but he didn’t really see another option. 

When he got outside of his destination he sent a quick text and waited with his head leaned back against the headrest. The throbbing pain from before was getting worse and he would give anything to make it go away. His thoughts were so jumbled. 

“Hey,” a whispered voice called out. 

“Hey,” Michael whispered back, more so because of his head. 

“I didn’t think you’d come back over here.”

“I kind of need some of that healing of yours.” Michael slurred, his head turning to face his brothers. 

Max’s face twisted up in anger. Not at Michael ,no his anger was directed at a totally different person. 

“Why don’t you come into the house-“

“No! I’d rather not have your family knowing I was here.” Michael protested. 

Max sighed. It always hurt hearing Michael refer to other people as his family, he never seemed to include himself in that category. “Their not home Michael. They won’t be home till the end of the week. I wanted to tell you at school today, but I couldn’t find you.”

“Detention.” Michael simply stated. If this was any other day he wouldn’t have taken Max up on his offer, but he was just really exhausted and he could really use a safe place to stay for a little bit even if it highlighted the fact that his siblings had a safer home than he did. That he was left behind and they weren’t. 

Michael opened the car door and stepped outside. He immediately stumbled as a dizzy spell overtook him. 

“Michael!” Max called out as he quickly caught him before he could face plant. 

“I’m okay, I’m okay.” He reassured Max even though he allowed his brother to carry most of his weight. 

It was late and it was dark outside so Max couldn’t make out what state Michael was in, though the fact that Max could still feel most of Michael's weight told him all he needed to know. 

They walked slowly and carefully into the house and up the stairs. It was a painstakingly long pace and by the time they made it up the stairs Michael could barely stand. He was listing and a sigh of relief left both brothers lips as they made it into the bedroom and onto the bed. 

Max’s relief though was short lived as he took in the blood decorating the side of Michael's face and staining his shirt red. “Jesus,” Max whispered. “What did that bastard do to you?"

Michael’s eyes were squeezed shut in obvious pain. “He threw a beer bottle at me. It wasn’t that big of a deal. I should have ducked.” Michael could practically fell Max's anger and that lip thing he did when he felt out of control. 

Max was seething. Seeing Michael in so much pain and then being so nonchalant about what happened to him was eating Max up inside. 

This shouldn't be his life. It wasn't fair. Why were he and isobel adopted by great parents while Michael was left to fend for himself against abusive jackasses. 

Max shoved his anger to the side long enough to heal the wound on Michael's head. The results were instantaneous as Michael opened his eyes. Max could already see more awareness in Michaels eyes. 

Michael winced as he got up from the bed and thanked his brother. 

"What was that?" Max asked noticing the slight wince. 

"What was what?" Michael looked at him in confusion. 

"Why did you wince? I healed your head. Unless..." Max sized him up and down. "You have another injury don't you?" 

"Max it's fine. You can't heal everything. What's he going to think when all of a sudden in bruise free?" Michael tried to explain to him, but Max wasn't having it. 

"You didn't deny it." Max once again gave Michael a once over. "Take off your shirt."

"That's a little inappropriate don't you think?" Michael smirked as he fell back on his jokes to keep from having any serious discussions with his family. 

"Shirt. Off. Now." Max said in his authoritative voice. As much as Michael mocked him about it, he still found himself following his orders. 

Michael winced as he painfully removed his T-shirt. The silence that followed was deafening. He could hear Max's teeth grinding in rage. "It's not as bad as it looks." Michael lied, it probably looked just as bad as it felt. 

Max sighed as tears welled in his eyes. A belt. 

"Max, you can't heal this, at least not totally. There needs to be some form of evidence." Michael said. He looked up as the lights started to flicker with Max's anger. 

Max knew Michael was right, but he didn't really care. He didn't want his brother to suffer even a tiny bit. So he kept quiet and healed Michaels back. Every inch of it. 

"Damnit Max. How the hell am I gonna explain this?" Michael said frustrated moving away from his brother. 

"Michael you can't go back there." Max said. 

"I don't have anywhere else to go." Michael bit out through clenched teeth. 

"We can talk to my parents, maybe they can help." Max tried. 

"You mean like they helped me before?" Michael reminded him. 

Max sighed but he couldn't deny what Michael was saying. It was true, his parents adopted him and isobel, but they left their sibling in the cold. He could still see the look on young Michaels face when he watched them walk away. It was heartbreaking. 

"Look, he isn't the worse I've lived with. If you guys say anything to the social workers I'll get another placement, but whose to say it won't be with someone worse. I can handle Todd. I know what to expect from him, but I'll be starting all over if I get another placement with new rules to follow." Michael explained to him. It wasn't Max's fault that he didn't how the system worked. 

"I'm just worried that the next time I won't be there in enough time to heal you. You don't come to me anymore. It's been months and I know he's hurt you in that time." Max said worried, be couldn't stop picturing Michael's broken body. 

"I promise I'll come to you if he hurts me too badly, but try not to worry too much, it's not like he's going to kill me or anything, he needs his checks afterall." Michael gave Max a smirk. 

"Where's Isobel?" Michael asked changing the subject. 

"She's over at a friends." Max signed. "How about you stay here until my parents get back. You'll be safe." Max suggested. 

Michael seemed to give it a lot of thought before he agreed. "I would really love to shower and get these clothes off of me."

"Yea, the bathrooms right between these doors." He said pointing to the bathroom in his room. Max took out a change of clothes for Michael and set them in the bathroom. 

He would find a way to get Michael out of this, he had to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think I'd love to hear from you guys. :)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is taking so long to be updated, but here's the next chapter and it's a little longer than the one before, I hope you enjoy it!

The rest of Michael's week was spent in relative bliss. He didn't have an angry abusive drunk to worry about. He could sleep without the fear of his foster father hurting him. All in all it was one of the best weeks he'd ever had. And he hated it. 

Yes this was something he wished he had. Something that he even dreamed of, but it wasn't his life. This safety net that he was living in the past few days was not going to help him when he inevitably had to go right back to his hell.This was one of the reasons why he wanted to steer clear of the Evans. 

Max had that look in his eyes again. The look of failure. The look he got every time he healed one of Michael's many wounds. Even Isabel was giving him sad puppy dog eyes. He hated it. 

Michael walked into his house that Friday night with low expectations. He wasn't sure what to expect from his foster father and the fact that he'd been gone for the better part of a week probably wouldn't help matters. 

No matter how low his expectations were what he didn't expect was to see his bags packed at the side of the door. His heart skipped a beat at the sight. 

He walked further into the room and saw a woman in a suit sitting awkwardly at the table. His eyes flashed out the door in surprise that he hadn't even noticed the other vehicle parked on the side. 

His social worker was here, and this couldn't mean anything good. 

At the sound of him entering the house the woman stood up. 

"Michael,"

"Ms. Reynolds." Michael stated. "What are you doing here? Is this one of your check-ups?" He asked slightly confused. They already had their monthly check-up. 

"Oh, no honey. That's not what I'm doing here. You're being sent to another home." She said simply. 

Michael's eyes widened in surprise. "I'm what?" Thoughts rushed through his head. 'Did Max tell his parents?' 'Had someone else found out about the abuse and ratted him out?' 

"Mr. Simmons was in an accident. He's going to be alright but it will take some time. He won't be able to continue looking after you." She explained. 

"I don't need him to look after me. I'm almost 17, I can look after myself." Michael argued. 

"Be that as it may, you need to be 18 to be considered an adult. So you will have to be placed in another home. Lucky enough for you we found a family that is willing to take you in for the time being, temporarily speaking." She ushered him to grab his things so they could head out. 

"So who's the family?" Michael asked from the passengers side. 

"I think it's a family you stayed with before, so at least you will all be familiar with eachother." She said while keeping her eyes on the road. 

Michael's body stiffened in his seat. He'd stayed with a lot of foster families and in a lot of foster homes so it wasn't like he knew who exactly she was referring too. The problem was that every single one of his foster families were abusive in some type of way. Whether the abuse was verbal or physical or downright neglect, there was always something. 

He swallowed nervously as he shifted in his seat. The unknown was killing him, but right as he was about to ask who the family was they pulled up in front of a house. A nice two story house. A house that he was intimately familiar with. A place where he still till this day had nightmares about. 

He sat rigid in his seat as he looked at the horror house before him. It wasn't until he heard the clearing of a throat that he realized Ms. Reynolds was waiting for him to exit the car. 

With shaky hands he opened the door and they walked out and over to the front door. 

Michael could feel beads of sweat appearing on his skin as his heart pounded in his chest. 'This couldn't be happening.' He kept repeating in his head. Out of all the freaking homes, he gets sent to the worst one he's ever had. Clearly the universe hated him, and according to these people so did Jesus.

The door opened and there they both stood. Freaking Satan reincarnated. 

"Mr. and Mrs. Klein, it's nice to see you again." Ms. Reynolds said happily. 

"You as well." Mrs. Klein said. "Please come inside."

They entered the home, Michael rather reluctantly. 

"Michael, it's so good to see you. We've missed you." Mrs. Klein said cheerfully. Her hand rubbing his arm. 

Michael inwardly cringed at the touch. He put on a fake smile as he acknowledged her words. 

"Well, I've already inspected the house, there's not really anything else for me to do here. Michael, hopefully we don't need to see eachother again." She said with a smile. "At least until your foster father is doing better."

Michael gave her his patented smirk, even though inwardly he was begging her not to leave him with these lunatics. 

The sound of the door closing, sealing his fate with the Klein's was what snapped him back into focus. 

Michael gulped as he turned his head to face the adults. 

The smiles that were once on both faces changed into disgust. 

"Can you believe this? What are the odds of us fostering you again?" Harry said as he stepped forward. 

Michael instinctively stepped back out of his touch, his fear mingling with his anger.

"Ah, it seems he still has that defiant streak. Too much time away probably undid all the work we put into him." Rachel tsked. 

"Don't worry honey, we'll fix him right up." Harry told her confidently. 

"Stay away from me!" Michael exclaimed as he backed away. His back hitting the door before he realized that he had no where to go. 

"Michael." Harry chastised. "Let's not be difficult on your first day back."

Michael's hands clutched the doorknob. He needed to get out of there. Maybe he would have survived his last foster home, but there was no way he'd survive a year and a half here. He wouldn't be able to just buy his truck and live out of it. These people would actually come looking for him. 

He couldn't stop his heart from beating erratically. What the hell was he going to do?

Michael was too distracted by his scattered thoughts that he didn't even realize Mr. Klein was already standing in front of him. 

Michael was no match for the strong muscled man before him. 

"I think a day or two in the chest would suffice don't you honey?" Rachel said in her sickly sweet voice. 

"You always could read my mind darling." Harry said as he dragged Michael kicking and screaming to the basement. 

Michael had no idea what they were referring to. They'd never had a 'chest' as far as he was aware. What he did remember was that whenever he was taken to the basement his powers were useless. He was highly aware that him using his powers was something he was never suppose to do, but sometimes he couldn't help it. 

This was one of those times. He struggled against the grip Harry had on his arms, but the man was too strong. His fear won out and Harry was uncerimonusly shoved to the wall. It wasn't a big display of power and it didn't even seem like the Klein's were aware of it, but that didn't stop them from continuing on with their mission. 

He and Harry struggled until a bang was heard and Michael's world went black. 

Rachel stood behind Michael with a vase in her hand. She shrugged her shoulders at her husband's face. "Sorry honey, I just reacted." 

Harry smiled as he grabbed Michael's limp arms and dragged him down into the basement. He picked the boy up and shoved him into the freezer chest. Locking it tight. 

They left the chest mid temp, high enough to cool him off, but not to freeze him alive. It was a cramped space, but he'd be okay till tomorrow morning. Two days would be enough. The couple left the basement and locked the door. 

A few minutes later and Michael was screaming bloody murder. Banging like a madman as he tried to get out. He attempted to use his powers, not caring if he was found out, but it wasn't working. By hour 1 he'd exhausted all his energy and by hour 3 he couldn't keep his teeth from chattering. His head was pounding and he was pretty sure that there was a lump growing somewhere under his curls. 

'They couldn't keep him locked in here forever' is the thought that kept running through his head. At some point he either fell asleep, or he lost consciousness. The next time he woke up his mind was moving slower than normal, and he couldn't really feel his extremities. He was out again soon after that. 

When the Klein's finally did come and get him out, his mind as well as his buddy were sluggish. He couldn't even express his relief at being free of the freezer chest. The very small freezer chest. His voice had given out from his continued screams and he could barely stand straight, not to mention he was starving and thirsty as hell. 

None of this was addressed though as he was once again carried by Harry up the stairs and into his room. 

"I hope this has reminded you of what happens when you disobey." Rachael said from her position by the door. 

Michael lay shivering in the bed teeth clattering away. "Yes m-m-ma'am" he stutterd through his chattering teeth falling back on what they told him to refer to them by when he first lived with them. 

"See honey, this shouldn't take too long at all." Harry said with a smile. "Physical demonstrations always seemed to work best with him. We'll have him back to normal before you know it."

Rachel smiled back and they both left the room. 

Michael felt like he'd been in that chest for a long time, but it was still morning. He was so confused until he remembered the Klein's telling him he be in there for a day or two. With the way his stomach was growling at him it had to be at least a day. 

He could barely move, although he could slowly feel his body defrosting.

He was still slightly out of it, falling in and out of consciousness. He spent most of the day in his bed, waiting for his body to cool off and his head to stop throbbing. It couldn't be good to have two head wounds so close to eachother. 

At first he thought his sluggish thoughts were just from the cold, but as he started to thaw and the sluggish feeling stayed he suddenly remembered the pain of something hard slamming into his head. 

He couldn't go back to Max so soon after just leaving him. Not to mention these foster parents were way more observant than his last one. And there was no way he was bringing his brother and inadvertently his sister on these psychos radar. No one knew of their relation and he planned on keeping it that way. 

It wasn't until late Sunday night, he'd looked at his phone and saw what day it was, when he couldn't handle the pain of his growling stomach and aching head that he decided to leave his room in search of pain pills, water and food in that particular order. 

Getting up from his bed was a struggle, and getting down the stairs was pure torture. His head was killing him and his steps were unsteady. 

It didn't even occur to him that his crazy foster parents would be in the house. He blamed it on account of his brain being in shambles. 

"Ah, I see you finally decided to grace us with your presence." Harry said from his office. 

Michael turned slowly, leaning heavily on the wall for support. "Sorry if I couldn't recover quick enough for you." Michael gritted out. "It's not as if I wasn't hit across the head and locked in a freezer chest for two days." His voice was low and filled with both sarcasm and anger. 

"What it seems like to me is that you may not have learned your lesson." He heard from behind him. 

Micheal stiffened up, highly aware of how vulnerable he was. He couldn't even stand up without the support of the wall. 

"I was thinking the exact same thing." Harry said walking over to him. "Maybe two days weren't enough."

Michaels heart skipped a beat. "Sorry sir, it must be the concussion talking." Michael said. 

"Right." Harry replied. 

"I was just heading down to see if there were any pain pills I could take." Michael gingerly asked. 

"You know we don't believe in recreational drugs, or any type of drug for that matter." Rachel told him. 

"Sorry, I must have forgotten." Michael sighed. 'What was he supposed to do now.'

"But we did leave some food for you in the kitchen." Rachel continued. 

'Great, now hopefully he'll be able to keep the food down.' "Thanks" he mumbled as he walked into the kitchen. 

Picking up the glass of water that was sitting next to a plate of warmed up food, Micheal downed it in just a few gulps. His eyes looking longingly at the fridge where the water was kept. His mouth was definitely still dry. 

Deciding that it was worth the risk Michael quickly opened the fridge and poured himself another glass. He set it on the counter next to his food and ate quickly, downing the second glass of water immediately after. 

Michael washed the plate and glass and carefully placed the items back in their spots with the utmost care. He remembered the pain that was inflicted on him when he once accidentally dropped a glass plate. 

"At least you didn't drop it this time." Harry said from behind Michael nearly giving him a heart attack. 

"Yea, I guess I learned my lesson the last time." Michael responded softly. 

"Glad to hear it only took the one time." Harry said. "How's school?" He continued. 

Okay, so they were doing this now. Pretending that he actually cared about him. 

"It's good." Michael said awkwardly. 

"Good as in what? Are you just passing by? Or are you acing your classes." He asked seriously. 

Michael sighed. He remembered this. The constant badgering of questions about school as if they honestly cared. It was a joke. 

"I'm acing all of my classes except econ. I have a B in that one." He answered hesitantly. 

"If your acing everything else than you should be acing economics as well." Harry chastised. 

"It's an AP economics class, a B isn't a bad grade. By far." Michael said giving Harry a confused look. 

"Yes, but it's not an A now is it? I can't have you associated with this family if you can't keep a simple thing like straight A's. You're a smart kid, I expect better from you."

Un-freaking-believable. This guy was freaking nuts. He was taking all AP honours courses, and he was passing them all on top of the fact that he was trying to survive living in an abusive and unstable home. "I- I'm trying-"

"No, I don't think you understand me. I expect that B to change into an A by the end of the school week." Harry explained as he leaned against the counter in front of Michael.

Michael's eyes widened. That wasn't possible. There was no makeup work for him to do, or any extra credit for him to complete, there weren't even any tests this week. They were basically reading up on things in their books. He had no work to complete to get any extra points. "I can't just-"

"No. I don't want to hear it. Get it done." Harry demands. The threat not verbalized but clear from the hard eyes. 

Michael gulped, his eyes averted from the man in front of him. "Yes sir." This would more than likely be another bruise he'd have to look forward to, because there was no way in hell his grade would be changing this week. 

Michael awkwardly bypassed Harry on his way out of the kitchen.  
...

School the next morning was a drag. He tried and failed to get any extra credit work. The teacher explaining how he wouldn't be able to come up with any extra credit assignments until next week at the earliest. This in turn had him feeling edgy the entire day. 

"Hey!" 

A voice called out to him. Being in the mood he was in he chose to ignore them. 

"Guerin!" 

The person called out again. Rolling his eyes at the incessant voice Michael turned around. He was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't in fact some annoying kid wanting to get his attention, but someone he was actually interested in seeing. 

"Alex" Michael said with a smirk.  
"What's up?"

"Uh, nothing really." Alex replied. Michael could hear the nerves in the boys voice. He made the kid nervous. "I was just wondering what you were up to after class. If maybe you wanted to hang or something." The kid said with a shrug. 

Michael gave the kid a long look. "Yea, why not?" He didn't feel like heading straight home today, not with the news of his impending doom. Sometime away from home would definitely help him relax a little. Not to mention the smile that appeared on Alex's face shot right through his heart, he couldn't help but smile as well. 

"Cool" Alex said. 

They agreed to meet up in the school parking lot after the last bell and then go on from there. This was great really, because he wouldn't need to see Max and figure out what lie to tell him about how his weekend went after leaving their home. God, he was so tired of all the lies he had to tell, and the secrets he had to keep.  
...

They walked in a comfortable silence until they reached a partially deserted area. Finding a spot in the grass under a tree the boys plopped down, backs leaning against the trunk. 

Alex had grabbed his guitar from the music room as a last minute thing. He could see Michael eyeing it from his seat beside him. 

"You play?" Alex asked him. 

Michael shrugged. "A little." He answered still eyeing the guitar. 

Alex held out the instrument to the boy and waited patiently for him to take it. 

Hesitantly, as if he were afraid that Alex would take it back Michael grabbed the guitar. He ran his fingers over every inch of it, seeming to want to memorize ever part of it. Alex remained quiet the entire time watching him, but not judging. He didn't question what Michael was doing he just let him be. 

Finally after what felt like hours Michael started strumming the strings. Every now and then he'd stop and turn the knob, and then he'd go back to strumming. After a few more minutes of this Alex finally heard an actual tune coming from the guitar. 

Alex wasn't sure he knew the song, but whatever it was it was beautiful. His eyes focused on the fingers that moved expertly along the strings. The movements were effortless to Michael, while Alex, when he played, had to watch every finger he moved so he wouldn't accidentally hit the wrong thing. Michael with his eyes closed didn't seem to have that problem. 

Alex smiled as he watched Michael smile through the beautiful melody he was playing. Alex was so transfixed in the boy that he barely noticed when the song was finished. 

"What?" Michael asked nervously. 

"You only play a little huh?" Alex shook his head. "Michael that was amazing." 

"You think so?" Michael asked hesitantly. 

Alex laughed. "Yes, I'm like one hundred percent sure. I wish I could play as well as you. Where did you learn to play?" Alex asked. 

"I taught myself." Michael told him. 

"That's... that's pretty amazing. I've been learning for years now, and I'm still not half as good as you are." Alex looked at him a little shocked by his answer. 

Michael just shrugged his shoulders like it was nothing. "I'm sure you're not as bad as you think." 

Alex chuckled, "Yea, I'm probably much worse." Michael laughed along with him. 

They stayed talking under that tree for hours. Although, nothing too important was discussed. Alex let him know that he could borrow the guitar whenever he wanted, since it was only sitting in the music room, being neglected. 

Michael being Michael wasn't quick to accepting what looked to him like charity, but he did eventually accepted it. 

An hour later they were saying their goodbyes and heading home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. Tell me what you think I'd love to hear from you guys. :)

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you liked it. I'm thinking of adding little flashbacks to his other foster homes as well. Tell me what you think I'd love to hear from you guys. :)


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